UPDATED: Rick Perry won't seek re-election as Governor of Texas

Perry announced Monday that he would not seek re-election as governor, although he left open the possibility of a run for president.

"The time has come to pass the mantle of leadership," Perry said.

Perry, 63, has the record for longest serving governor. He is in his third full term and would have been running for a fourth full term.

"Any future considerations I will announce in due time," Perry said.

Perry made his announcement against a backdrop of bulldozers and backhoes and a barrage of fans near the front of the podium at the Holt Caterpillar dealership in San Antonio.

The governor is a fifth generation Texan and a Texas A&M graduate.

Perry has focused on strong fiscal conservativism in trying to create Texas jobs. He spoke at a fiscal conservative think tank earlier this year and told the audience that creating jobs is the first priority of the state government.

He touted creating 1.6 million jobs since he became governor.

"We have created the strongest economy in the nation," Perry said.

Perry started his political career in 1985, representing rural West Texas as a state House member. He was first elected to statewide office in 1990, in 1990 he started as the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture for two terms.

According the governor's office website, Perry comes from Paint Creek, "a small farming community north of Abilene. … Between 1972 and 1977, Governor Perry served in the United States Air Force, flying C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East."

Perry had a failed run in the primaries for the Republican nomination for the 2012 presidential elections. His most public gaffe came when he forgot which federal department he wanted to dismantle.

Conservatives such as the Tea Party have leveled complaints against Perry for using government money as a "deal closer" to bring in or expand companies with his Texas Enterprise Fund, calling it "corporate welfare."

The Holt CAT headquarters where he made his announcement is owned by Peter Holt, a major contributor to Perry and a former appointee to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Statewide

Perry stepping down from the state's top public office may not change the Republican-centric nature of Texas politics, but it will put many faces in new places.

"It opens up long-awaited opportunities in the Republican party," said Jim Henson, a University of Texas political science professor and the director of UT's Texas Politics Project.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been considered a frontrunner for the governor's position should Perry not run for re-election.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, has garnered significant attention nationally and especially throughout Texas for her filibuster of an abortion regulation bill that helped kill the legislation along with crowd uproar.

Henson said Democrats still face an uphill battle in their organization and the Republican Party dominating in Texas, but the opportunity for a statewide position will still be there.

Perry running for governor does not preclude a run for president.

"That's so far down the road," Perry told a reporter who asked about a presidential bid while Perry shook hands with supporters after the announcement.